In the Judge’s Chambers – Tulsa State Fair Livestock Judge on What Makes a Champion Steer

In the Judge’s Chambers – Tulsa State Fair Livestock Judge on What Makes a Champion Steer

Oklahoma Farm Report

Judging the Tulsa State Fair Market Steer Show this year is Dr. Mark Hoge, a professor at Western Illinois University and one of the leading livestock judges in the country. Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Dr. Hoge at the fair to find out what exactly he is looking for when it comes to picking champions.

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NOAA finds cows, rice farms driving methane rise, not fossil fuels

NOAA finds cows, rice farms driving methane rise, not fossil fuels

Valerie Richardson

Washington Times

Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to and perceived by the public.

The Environmental Protection Agency may have overlooked the real culprits in its recent crackdown on methane emissions from fossil fuels: rice farmers and cows. A newly released study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration attributed the increase in global atmospheric methane since 2007 to microbial sources, including rice paddies, livestock, decaying vegetation in wetlands, even termites, not fossil fuels.

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Store hay in location that minimizes losses

Store hay in location that minimizes losses

Rick Rasby

Angus Journal

High input costs and low calf prices will cause cow-calf producers to ratchet down their production systems to remain competitive. Even though the data suggest that low-cost cow-calf enterprises optimize grazing opportunities, there are situations where cows need to be fed harvested forages

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When in doubt, change that needle out

When in doubt, change that needle out

Heather Smith Thomas

Beef Magazine

“When vaccinating a group of cattle, it’s best to use a new one for each animal, but very few producers do this,” says George Barrington, a veterinarian with Agricultural Animal Clinic Services at Washington State University.

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Nutrition During Gestation and Fetal Programming

Nutrition During Gestation and Fetal Programming

K.A. Vonnahme

University of Nebraska

Historically, considerable efforts have been made to understand how nutrition impacts health and productivity during the postnatal period. While maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays an essential role in proper fetal and placental development, less is known about how maternal nutrition impacts the health and productivity of the offspring.

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A new era in valuing calves, feeder cattle

A new era in valuing calves, feeder cattle

Dr. Bob Hough

Western Livestock Journal

The objective evaluation of seedstock cattle through things like EPDs (expected progeny differences), indexes and genomics has been implemented for many years, but taking these same tools to help value feeder cattle is just starting to gain steam.

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Feedlot closure is part of bigger economic picture

Feedlot closure is part of bigger economic picture

D’arce Mcmillan

Western Producer

Livestock futures markets were slammed lower again last week with fed cattle and hogs each testing multi-year lows. There is just too much meat on the market — pork and beef. October live cattle futures fell to 98.900 cents per pound Sept. 30, the lowest point on a continuous chart since November 2010.

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